First (maybe only) post, forgive me.

Picked up a new p238 two tone California edition. Took it out for the first time and put about 60 rounds through it. When I went to check clear and put it away for the day, the slide pin just fell out and the gun came apart in my hand.....

Not going to get waaaay into it. But Sig Support is the only company ever, to tell me their guns fall apart by design. Maybe dude was having a bad day, so I'm not going to mention names. I was disappointed to say the least and my concerns were ignored.

The Fix..... It's fairly easy and may work for anyone with a p238 that has this issue. (about 20 min, surprised SIG doesn't have a "standard procedure" for this, or a better, repair)

Pull the pin and remove the slide.

Take a flat head screw driver with a blunt tip and push down on the small portion of the slide release spring that protrudes into the void where the slide release pin lug sits in the frame.

Push down (little bit at a time) with increasing force until the tip of the spring starts to permanently bend down towards the magazine release.

Test the slide release pin each time to insure you don't bend it to far and impede installation of the slide release pin.

At this point, you may not need to do anything more. The slight pressure from the spring does a decent job holding the slide release pin in.

If you want to take it a bit further, I did.

Locate the tiny ledge the spring should have engaged with from the factory.... (SIG... you know better)

I used a 1.8mm precision SS drill bit (amazon) and a hand drill to put a slight divot in the back corner of the tiny ledge. (just a few turns with light pressure did the trick) The spring tip you just bent will "set" in this little dimple if done correctly. The pin will stay in even if you slap the gun with your hand while holding the slide in alignment. The pin now pops out with little effort, I can just pop it out with my finger nail. Now, my BRAND NEW $700 SIG doesn't just fall apart anymore, even though SIG wasn't willing to help.

Now, I'm not any level of a gunsmith, but I couldn't find much info when searching. I'd assume someone has done a far better job finding a permanent fix for this issue. I just couldn't find it. I will say, I'm an accomplished engineer, worked as a mechanic for many years and currently consult on large construction projects. I'm confident in my abilities and I've stayed in a motel 6 many times. But, I advise you perform this, or any repair, at your own risk and present this as a fix that worked for me, only. Best of luck, Happy Shooting!

This happened w/ my brother's P238. I'm not sure if he kept it or not but he no longer carries it.

I see some comments on youtube about this same thing.



And welcome to the forum.

Yep, so right at 5:18 I can see his spring bends down just slightly toward the mag release in the void where the lug sits.

Mine was straight and didn't apply any pressure to the lug to help retain the pin. Sig honestly told me not to shoot the gun while it's leaning to the left..... I told the guy on the phone the issue is well documented online and sounds like I just needed a spring. He told me I could send it in but couldn't guarantee a repair because it sounds like the gun was functioning properly.... Really quite irritating. I then said, so Sig's opinion is a self protection CC should only be used in the perfect straight up and down position and the pin falling out is part of it's operation. His answer was effectively to the affirmative.

Thanks for the vid, found many similar but nothing that described a simple 'at home' fix and though I would share.

When I bought my P238 Emperor Scorpion last year, I was aware of some folks having a problem with their slide stops, but I have never had an issue. I heard taking the spring out, or installing the stop back in incorrectly while bending the spring can cause problems. I have fired maybe 600 rds through it, and actually experimented with angling the pistol towards the left to see if the stop will fall out, but is never did. I carry it as a backup gun, and 100% confident it will be fine. Great gun, BTW, an excellent shooter and has been 10% reliable so far.

N84d, Welcome aboard, and thanks for sharing this useful tip!

Oddball, Agreed, great shooter, accurate and nearly perfect for the application. Unfortunately I got one of the bad ones. I just wish I would have gotten better support. And who knows, If I called back the next tech may have helped me out. I just figured I could fix it pretty easy. Wanted to share what I came up with. Looking forward to the next range day. It ate some horrible 60gr practice rounds, (only thing the range had) some 90gr magtech ball and some 90gr Fioci defence JHP without issue.

Arfmel, Thanks!

This is a known problem with some P238's and some P938's. Bending the spring is one of the cures. In some cases the spring was not fully seated in its groove. Luckily both my P938 and my wife's P238 do not exhibit this issue. My wife's pistol is from 2015, and mine from 2016.
Some time ago an Engineer on another forum did some calculation on pin diameter versus hole diameter and showed that in some cases a tolerance stack up could lead to loose pins which made the problem worse.

I have three P238s. One of them exhibited this problem. SIG customer service sent me a new slide stop spring, which cured the problem.

quote:

Originally posted by oddball:
<snip>
Great gun, BTW, an excellent shooter and has been 10% reliable so far.

10% reliable? Chuckle, yes, I know, a typo.

I too have a CA P238 and love it. Fortunately no problem with its slide latch pin falling out. Mine did have a few cycling issues in the first hundred rounds. None since then with 1,000+ rounds though it.

Great first post N84d. Hope you stick around.

quote:

I used a 1.8mm precision SS drill bit (amazon) and a hand drill to put a slight divot in the back corner of the tiny ledge

I used an electric engraver (one of those that vibrate the tip) to make the divot. The part needs to be resting against a firm surface, or held in a gun vise etc., when doing this.